As Logan Roy on Succession, Brian Cox‘s character huffed and puffed his way through the drama. As it turns out, the Scottish-born actor isn’t one to hold back his opinions in real life either, as he had strong words for a fellow co-star.
It isn’t the first time, nor is it likely to be the last, that Cox echoes his thoughts about Succession co-star Jeremy Strong’s method acting. In a 2023 interview with Town & Country, Cox referred to Strong’s approach as “f*cking annoying” but credited him as an outstanding and talented performer. Now, he’s back at it again.
This time, though, Cox softened his stance on the subject, even if the message remained the same and crystal clear. Speaking to The Guardian, the actor said:
“He was wonderful to act with. I had no argument with Jeremy’s acting. He would be an even better actor if he just got rid of that so there would be much more inclusiveness in what he did.”
According to Cox, method acting “creates hostility” among the cast members and it’s unnecessary to deliver a great performance. His advice to Strong is to cool it on being in character all the time and smoke marijuana (yes, he said that) to relax when off camera.
Expectedly, Brian Cox’s comments divided social media. Some pointed out that Cox is entitled to his opinion, while others remarked how Strong’s approach served him well since he bagged an Emmy and Golden Globe for his performance as Kendall Roy. A few humorous souls suggested Cox’s commentary sounds exactly like what Logan would say to his son on Succession.
Funny enough, Strong doesn’t see himself as a method actor at all. As he told The New Yorker in 2021, he believes “you have to go through whatever the ordeal is that the character has to go through.” For him, that means closing off his mind to everything else outside of the scene at the time, but it isn’t to the extreme that some of his fellow thespians have done.

Jared Leto, for example, is renowned for being a hard-core method actor. Notoriously, he turned into a meme because of the lengths he went to in order to get into character as the Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad. Reportedly, he sent rats, dead pigs, and adult toys to his co-stars as a means to announce his arrival – what that has to do with the Clown Prince of Crime is anyone’s guess but roll with it. However, when the film debuted and Leto’s Joker featured in a largely inconsequential part, the internet laughed in unison at all that effort for nothing.
Leto was back up to his old tricks again in 2022’s Morbius, as he refused to walk around without the aid of a crutch to portray the ailing and fragile Michael Morbius. Thankfully, no reports have come out of him morbing in real life or trying to bite someone’s neck as part of his method acting.
Jokes aside, Brian Cox’s approach to acting is the polar opposite of what Leto subscribes to in his own movies. It raises an interesting conversation about the role of method acting and if it’s actually useful or one step too far. Regardless, let’s see how far Leto is willing to go if he actually lands the role of Skeletor in the Masters of the Universe reboot movie, as he’s rumored to be in the running.
Published: Dec 9, 2024 09:52 am